There Will Always be Darkness
by Kit Roze
Summary: sunlight is gone and i remember my AGONY.  the people are gone and i remember i am ALONE.  the laughter is gone and i hear the SCREAMS.  You sleep to Forget your DEMONS,  I don't to keep mine at BAY.
1. Night Always Falls

There Will Always Be Darkness.

Chapter 1: Night Always Falls.

"Imam! Wake up!" she begged. "Please wake up. Don't leave me alone." Kyra's tears fell freely for the first time in her life as she cradled her guardian's cold hand in her lap.

She had come home to find the front door of Imam's house kicked in. She had rushed through the house calling his name, until she found him lying crumpled on the floor in the library. It looked as if a pack of wild boars had come through the room, destroying everything in their path. All his books, his beautiful books were torn and scattered on the floor.

She knew he was never going to rise. That he was never going to wake up. She had known that when she smelled the blood soaking the floor. When she had seen the execution style double tap to his chest. All she could do was kneel beside him. Her silver dress soaking up both her tears and the blood she was kneeling in. She didn't move for what seemed like an eternity. She only stirred from her despair when she heard voices calling her and Imam. But Kyra didn't respond, she couldn't find her voice. They would find her in a few minutes she knew. And they did.

"Kyra? Imam?" A matronly voice called from down stairs.

Kyra heard the sound of people rushing into the house, but she didn't care. She couldn't care. She had nothing left in her.

"In here." The same voice called from the doorway. A slight breeze followed that voice into the room, stirring up the smell of Imam's blood drying on the floor. Kyra still didn't move. Not until she felt Aereon's feather light hand rest on her shoulder. "Come my child. You must leave this place."

* * *

Kyra woke to darkness. Nothing felt right. Nothing smelled right. In a fraction of a second Kyra crouched in to a defensive position, searching for the dagger strapped to her calf. Finding her calf bare she began to panic. She had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. The last thing she could remember was being escorted to a transport by some of the council. She heard nothing in the dark, no sounds of life. She slumped against the wall behind her. She was defeated. Imam was gone. The only thing she had left to live for was now gone. She was lost and alone in the dark, but this time he wasn't coming back to save her. And this time she was not plagued by hope.

The darkness around her seemed to suffocate her. She felt as though she was drowning, and she didn't fight it. She didn't want to.

* * *

"We need her out of cryo!" A voice whispered through the fog harshly.

"Can we afford to take on that responsibility?" A second voice asked. "What if something goes wrong? It will be on our heads, and there will be extreme consequences to pay."

Kyra didn't open her eyes, her brain instantly registering what they were saying. However she was not as "under" as they thought she was. She was groggy and felt like her head had been used as a punching bag, but she was awake. She concentrated on her eyes and her eyelids. She needed to get her bearings without giving way that she was awake. She slowly cracked her eyes open, but the sterile white walls and bright overhead lights were making it extraordinarily difficult to adjust without scrunching up her face to squint. But she managed to adjust with her eyes barely open. As she let her eyes wander through the limited vision she had, she took stock of her surroundings. She realized instantly that though she was waking up from cryo she was not in a stasis tube, but lying on a table. And she was restrained. Knowing full well that it was useless to struggle against the auto adjust restraints binding her wrists and ankles, she tried not to panic.

She turned her mind to other things, trying to figure out just where she was.

1. The not quite right gravity: she was on a ship.

2. The com system announced "all geological personnel to level 4": she was on a survey ship.

3. The size of the infirmary she was in and two registered attendees: she was on a small frigate with a crew of at least 30.

4. This was a good sign and a bad sign. Good because she was in no immediate danger. Had this been a merc ship there would be a round the clock guard and she would have to fight for her life minute to minute.

5. Bad because it meant that she was headed away from Helion Prime, most likely to a low inhabitant area outside of shipping lanes.

Before she could register anything else the two men stopped arguing and abruptly left the room. That gave her the opportunity to open her eyes fully and look around the room for a way out. "_What would Riddick do?"_ The thought ran across her mind before she could stop it. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply going over her options. There weren't many to choose from. She could wait and let them "wake her up". (Fat chance) Or… She could force their hand. As long as they thought she was in cryo she had the upper hand. She liked having the upper hand.

Slowly she flexed all her muscles, checking to see if she still in one piece. When she decided she was, she began twisting her wrists and pulling them up against the restraints. As the restraints tightened just slightly the twisting began to rip at the skin. She didn't stop till she felt and heard blood trickling onto the table. She did the same with her ankles, only stopping when there was blood. It was a little uncomfortable but it didn't hurt. Her goal was to convince them that the restraints were malfunctioning. They would be forced to release her restraints to inspect her wrists and ankles, seeing as how they seemed to want her in one piece. If all went as planned she would be able to arm herself with a scalpel before they even registered that she was awake.


	2. Will Dawn Ever Break

There Will Always Be Darkness

Chapter 2: Will Dawn Ever Break

It wasn't long before the two attendees returned with the captain's approval for her release from cryo. It took a few minutes before they saw her wrists and ankles. From there everything moved quite fast and before either of them could react she had the shorter man in a chokehold.

"Ma-am calm down." The short man rasped.

"Where am I? How did I get here?" Kyra said in a calm but menacing voice.

"You are on the Gestirn. And we don't know how you got here." The taller of the tow said with just a hint a panic lacing his voice.

"We don't even know who you are exactly." The shorter man said gasping for breath. "We were simply under the direction of the captain to keep you under till we were underway."

Kyra relaxed her arm around the man's neck, letting him breath. "Take me to the captain, now."

"Or course." The tall man said. "Would you like bandages first?"

"No. I'll be fine." Kyra replied, glancing down at her wrists. "Just take me to the captain."

"As you wish. This way." He gestured to the doors.

Kyra released the man she had been holding and motioned for both men to exit in front of her.

Captain Irons was seated behind his desk outside the bridge, scrolling through his next set of instructions. He had officially decided they made no sense, so he tossed them onto his desk. He had received a passenger in cryo and she had no records. The only reason he had taken her was because it was at the request of the High Council on Helion Prime. However council or not he did not appreciate secrets of any kind on his vessel. Men with his background were usually the ones keeping the secrets. Being in the dark was not his style, and as soon as his "mystery" passenger was roused he planned on getting answers. He by no means expected her to be stepping through his door at this very moment. And before he even had time to register her presents she was leaning over his desk, her faces inches from his own, and her eyes freezing him in place.

"Captain." She hissed.

"Ma-am." He said, his breathing short. "May I have your name?"

"No." she replied. "But I will have yours."

"Captain Jonathan Irons." He said as he studied her. She appeared to be completely calm, her eyes measuring him up, looking for any weakness to exploit if this conversation came to a not so cordial end. She did not appear to be a 'force to be reckoned with'; she looked to be a lady. Her clothes bespoke wealth and proper upbringing. And the way she spoke with such confident authority told him she was not to be underestimated. "Your are in not danger here Ma-am."

"You say that, but you don't even know if you mean it." She smirked as she tilted her head to the side studying him further. And then she laughed. "You are more in the dark than I am. Aren't you?"

"Enlighten me then." He said leaning closer, frustrated that she was right.

"Maybe." She sat down in the chair opposite his and propped her pale blue fur boots up on the edge of his desk. She recognized the upper hand she had just been given. And as she relaxed she thought about the best way to proceed. "Give me the orders."

"I cannot," he stated, "I was told no one reads them."

"Ever think that may have included you as well?" she said condescendingly.

"Of course not!" He replied indignantly. " I'm the Captain."

"Ah… Typical." She sighed. "Never the less, they were not meant for you. So give them to me."

He contemplated for a few moments, wrestling with the fact that she was probably right. Silently glaring at her he passed her the encrypted data pad. Her fingers flew over the screen deftly unlocking information he didn't even know to look for. After a few very long tense minutes, Kyra looked up and studied Captain Irons. The Captain was a tall man, probably 5'11", with broad shoulders, black hair and a handsome face. But he seemed quite young for this kind of "fact-finding" survey ship. However this was probably a good thing. For if all was as it seemed it meant that the dear captain did not have a propensity for adventure.

"Did you understand any of this?" She asked, with one eyebrow raised.

"No." he shot back defensively. "Did you?"

"Of course I did. They are my orders after all." She said as she locked the data pad.

"So…" he asked waiting for details.

"Tell me our destination and what routes we are taking to get there." She demanded, not willing to give him any information just yet.

"We are headed to the Tangier system. And we are taking the normal shipping lanes."

"Very well. Proceed however you had planned." Kyra stood signaling that the conversation was now over. "I would appreciate being escorted to my quarters now."

After finding her things in her quarters Kyra quickly checked to see if any of it had been tampered with. Finding everything secure she unlocked her duffle and found a hand written note resting on top of a lockbox. The note read:

_"It is imperative no one knows who you are, the risks are too great. Your new identity_

_ is inside. I know you are confused, but hold on. I will be with you soon. ~ Taya"_

It was written in Taya's hand there was no doubt, but her orders in the data pad were not from Taya, they were from the Security Council headed by Councilor Cole Johnson. They were also nonspecific. Designed in such a way that any operative sent on this mission would be able to decode and complete the task set down. Kyra was frustrated with the secrecy; usually she didn't have to worry about secrets, only how to keep them. Being High Council security and the personal guard of the Second meant you had to keep a lot of secrets, but they were never kept from you. She knelt down and entered her password into the lockbox. When she reached in and read her new credentials she was surprised and amused.

_Name:__ Sherah Andres __Age:__ 23 __Origin:__ Kronos5 __Occupation:__ High Council/Magistrate_

_ Species: A.E.A.H (artificially engineered advanced human) Status: Refugee/Diplomat_

_ Travel Status: In transit to Tangier 3 for Diplomatic Administrative Actions_

_ Authority: Diplomatic Immunity on all Allied Worlds. Has the authority to use all means necessary to complete the task set before her._

Taya was good. She had covered all Kyra's bases. She had been smart to use Kronos5, a planet that is no longer inhabitable. There would be no way to trace her identity back because the governmental and environmental collapse of the system.

She was a refugee. Again. It seemed like a lifetime ago she had gone by another name. Jack. Before that it had been Jacqueline. Now it was Kyra Al-Walid. And when she woke in the morning she would be Sherah Andres. One of these days she find a name that stuck.

Kyra sat down to unlace her boots. They were beautiful, made from the iridescent fur of the snow cats on Helion Prime's sister moon. They had been a gift from Imam not three weeks ago. It made her smile to think that he had succeeded. He had groomed her into a young woman of class and breeding. Even though beneath every gown there was hidden a weapon. And in her boot there was always a 15" dagger. He was proud of her. He had understood that there would always be a part of her that loved to fight, and that she would always be different. But the instead of crushing those differences he encouraged her to find an appropriate outlet for that side of her. He had introduced her to Aereon and Taya after she resurfaced on Helion Prime three years after they escaped from Hades (M6-117). She was now twenty and had been working to Taya for the last three years. Taya had made Kyra her personal guard a short while after she hired her. Many had said that hiring a 17yr old to be your head of security was a major lapse in judgment. However both Aereon and Taya saw such potential and fresh insight in the Kyra that they forced Councilor Johnson to put her on the Security Council as an operative. Now she was the youngest Councilor since the inception of the council. The memories flooding back to her made her absentmindedly finger the odd pendent hanging from a silver chain around her neck. It appeared to be a talon of sorts with the symbol for Crislam carved into it. The only thing that made it special was where it came from. It represented the man who saved her life and the man who became her life. Both were special and both were gone.

She had no idea how to complete her mission. She was faced with a problem no one could help her solve. The main directive had read _"find the last known living associate of the man called Riddick, and return him to Helion Prime."_ Apparently the last known location of the boy named Jack was Tangier 3. Thing is Taya and Aereon both know exactly what happened to that boy. She could only conclude that her orders were one of two things: a puzzle. Or a trap.

"lights dim to 5%" she whispered collapsing onto the bed.

" And with the Dawn shall come the Light, When night is Gone and make things Right."


	3. With the Day comes the Sun

There will always be Darkness Chapter 2: With the Day, Comes the Sun

"_And with the Dawn shall come the Light, When night is Gone and make things Right."_

"Lady Andres." The call came from the other side of her cabin door. She had been sitting reading one of the many books packed away in her luggage. Taya knew how much Kyra 'loved' long journeys so she had provided a way to stave off the 'gun-to-temple' scenario. "Lady Andres?" The call came again, louder this time, and no matter how much Kyra wished the man would just go away she knew he would not.

"Yes?" she asked as she opened her door. She stared down the orderly with an icy glare that said, 'yes I like to shoot the messenger'.

"Ma-am the captain requires your presence in the briefing room." The young man said without meeting her eyes.

"Of course, tell him I will be there shortly." She said, and he scurried off like rabbit before a wolf. She laughed to herself as he disappeared down the corridor. She bore no ill will to the young man but he did have impeccably bad timing, she would blame the captain for that when she saw him. She walked over to her bed, donned her cloak and left to meet the captain.

A fuming Captain Irons, the sight of which never ceased to make her smile, greeted Kyra. He looked like a bully who was getting ganged up on by all the smaller children on the playground. He may not have been all bark and no bite per se, but to a predator like Kyra he was simply a mosquito. A nuisance. She had been on this ship for a month with no word from Taya, and she was beginning to feel like a wolf in a cage. It is never a good idea to rattle a wolf in a cage, especially when you happen to be in the cage as well.

"My dear Captain," she said sweetly, "You rang?"

"I do not appreciate being lied to!" He yelled.

"Me lie to you? What a silly thought." She said condescendingly.

The captain rushed toward her, grabbed her arm tightly, and got right in her face. "I am the Captain on this ship; it would serve you well to remember that." He said menacingly. He expected her to flinch, or look alarmed, or something. But the last thing he thought he would see in her eyes was barely reigned fury. What she did next was anyone's guess.

"Captain," she said with deadly calm, "if you like being able to use your right hand, I suggest you remove it before I remove it for you." When he did not comply Kyra closed her eyes and counted to three. With a quick flick of her left hand she removed his hand from her arm and in the same second pushed him away with her right. "Now! Shall we start again?" she said as she sat down at the briefing table.

Irons had no idea how it happened but one second he was showing her he was in charge and the next second he had been falling backwards across the room. He was startled to say the least. Councilor Andres looked to be a small woman, with a slender build but she overpowered him in a matter of seconds. He quickly masked the alarm on his face and sat down across from her. She was looking down at her nails as if nothing happened. And she looked bored.

"Captain," she said, all too patiently, "I do not have all day."

"I do not appreciate being lied to." He said again.

"Maybe I could clear some things up for you." She sighed. "That is if I knew what you were talking about."

"You told me you were on a Diplomatic Mission for the High Council." He seethed.

"And I was not lying." She replied curtly.

"You decided to leave out the fact that you are a bounty hunter!"

"What makes you think I am a Merc?"

"This arrived for you earlier." He handed her a printout of two artist renderings. One was of Riddick and on was of a young boy named Jack. With it he handed her the credits on their heads.

"You think I am looking for Riddick?" Kyra exploded in a fit of feminine giggles. "You silly boy, If I were looking for Riddick, and I wanted to keep it a secret, you think you would be able to find out so easily?"

As much as he hated to be laughed at her giggles were mesmerizing. As much as she infuriated him, she could be devastatingly beautiful. After a moments delay he answered her. "I know you are up to something. And I know it is not as diplomatic as you would have me believe." He sneered. "I will find out. Mark my words I will find out."

She silently stood and began to walk out of the room. When she got to the door she stopped and turned to face him. Her eyes were icy once more. "Do not overestimate your own strength Irons. For there will come a day that the consequences for your actions will be too great for you to handle." And she was gone.

He wasn't sure just how she did it but her confidence at all times commanded everyone's attention. No matter what and this case was no different. He didn't trust her and she didn't trust him. Both facts were becoming more and more clear with each day that passed.

Kyra kept mostly to herself, staying in her cabin or officer's lounge for meals. If you couldn't find her in either of those places then it was probably best you didn't know where she was. Keeping to oneself had its advantages though. Kyra had plenty of time on her hands to develop her identity, to blend with it and loose herself to it. She had done it before and she could do it again. She also had the time to figure out just what she was expected to do on Tangier 3. She looked down at the two pictures sitting on her bed amidst the strewn papers from the files she had been reading. She picked one up and looked down into the face that haunted her dreams. The eyes in her nightmares. She noticed that the artist had given up on trying to get his eyes right so they had simply put those goggles on him.

Saying his name today nearly cost her composure. If she lost her composure even for a second she could lose everything, and sacrifice him in the process. All this for a man she hated, loathed, despised. None of those particular words were strong enough for the depth of passionate rage that welled up in her when he crossed her mind. She had deluded herself as a teenager into thinking that he was her guardian angel. That he was even human. But he wasn't. He was a pit bull, bred for the ring and nothing else. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and let herself remember for just a second what it felt like to be safe. When she was younger it had been easy to imagine that she was safe, he was there right beside her. But now it was just her and her new identity to keep her company. She felt a single tear as it dampened her eyelashes and she was furious with herself. How dare she let him still have any power over her? She had obviously had no power over him. Her life was due completely to the fact that he believed he needed atonement for a forgotten sin and saving her was penance. She wouldn't do this to herself, she was better than this.

She tossed the picture away from her and picked up the picture of herself. Albeit a very young, buzz-cut, dirty version of herself but it was her none the less. But no one would every suspect that now, now she was all grown up and dignified. What had she been thinking back then? It wasn't really a question. She had known exactly what she had been doing all those years ago. She had taken the first chance at freedom, and she had booked it like a bat outta hell. It wasn't that she was a slave or anything back then, quite the opposite infact. She had been the oldest of 6 children and the prized daughter of a nobleman of Kronos 7. Her father had been about to marry her off in some business deal. You would never know looking at the picture in her hand but her hair had been halfway down her back just a few short weeks before she had met him. It seemed she had finally come full circle. Not exactly where her life had started but pretty damn close to it. She had worked so hard at reinventing herself, and that day when she landed in hell, she finally had or so she thought. But she hadn't fooled was him, he had known from the beginning. Like he had been reading her mind the whole time.

She put the picture on a stack of papers and started collecting the files. She needed sleep. Well she actually needed some fresh air but it wasn't like she could open a window. As she stacked the files in the lock box she made a list in her head of preperations necessary to finding him. If this was what they wanted her to do this is what she would do. She would have to get creative. And she would have to be so convincing as Sherah Andres that he wouldn't even know her. She assumed that taya was working out some form of assists but she couldn't be sure. All she could be sure of was that there was nothing she could do at that very moment. So after securing the files and straightening up her book collection, she layed down.

"Lights dim to 5%" She closed her eyes, and slowly began to doze off. Suddenly her eyes came open. The lights had gone out. And she was frozen in place.

"_Was it the sound of my voice calling your name? No it could not have been, for I do not speak your name."_


	4. Stars burn White as Rage

_Note to readers__: I know I never update and this is the only sufficient explanation. I'm working on a large manuscript, (coming to a theatre near you in 10 years lol). Kyra and Riddick's story is my version of writers block cure. And because of that this story has no planned out arc. The story only happens when I sit down and my own characters elude me. So your patience is angelic to say the least. And I am taking some time off of my novel to breathe. Therefore Kyra is my only creative outlet right now. I pray I can stave off your growing disappointment in me. Yours Truly, __**KIT**_

* * *

Paralyzing fear is the only thing she could feel. She wanted to scream but she didn't have a voice. She wanted get up, to run, but she couldn't move. Every rational thought in her head was forced out by panic. She tried to calm herself down, tried to get a hold of herself. She tried closing her eyes and taking deep breaths but that only seemed to make it worse.

The problem wasn't the dark. Her mind rationalized the dark and compensated for it. So what was she so afraid of? It had been years since the darkness and here on the Gestirin there was nothing to fear. She was the only predator here. With that thought in mine she finally began to calm, but every instinct in her was telling her that something was wrong. At first she had chalked it up to the panic but now as she fought the panic away the ship seemed calm. Which, on first glance, seemed to be a very good thing; but her lights had gone out of their own accord, meaning a power failure. So there should be alarms or at least emergency lighting. There was only deafening silence.

She rose from her bed and dressed. Without the lights to tell her what she was dressing in she went by the feel of the fabric. She chose the lightest fabric. She knew this particular gown clung closely to her upper body and flowed out amply from her hips. It was comfortable and more importantly flexible and silent. She pulled on her silver fur boots and strapped her knives in place. She then went to the lock box, opened it and retrieved a small box. The note from Taya said 'it was a brand new toy to play with'. And at this point Kyra thought it was perfect. From the box she removed two delicate glass lenses and slipped them onto her eyes. The note from Taya had also said these little devices were being called eyes of the beast. They really couldn't get creative could they? They had to play off the most blasé nickname of the most incredible killer. These days it didn't take 'twenty menthol kools', it took friends in obscenely high places and shine wasn't permanent.

She gathered any remaining files and information she had, placed them in the lockbox and set it to BURN. She packed her clothing and her ID papers in her carry case and set it by the door. Taking one last glance around the room she manually opened the door and silently made her way into the main corridor.

She was only mildly surprised that even the night crew was nowhere to be found. The reason being she had gotten thoroughly bored only two weeks into her stay aboard the Gestrin. So in order to entertain herself she had decided to be aware of her surroundings. Sadly I had only taken her fifteen minutes to crack every security protocol the ship had. She knew more about the ship than the crew did. From design specs to atmospheric conditions to personnel files, she knew it all. During her little fact-finding tours she had discovered some protocol abnormalities no survey ship should have. From this she had come to the conclusion that the Gestrin was not what it seemed. The scientists were real, but the captain and his officers were not.

Upon this discovery she had taken it upon herself to install a few security measures of her own. First she set up her own backdoor protocols giving her total access to the entire ship at any given time. Second she ghosted her bio readings so she couldn't be tracked around the ship. Third she formulated an escape plan. Not and was task in space. However one of her favorite hobbies was snooping about, and in doing so she had found her life boat.

All the information she had gathered in the last few weeks gave her an extreme advantage now. As she made her way down the pitch black corridor she deftly ducked into a geo-work station and quietly slid the door shut. She activated her protocols and synced a data-pad to the main computer. Her first order of business was to access a ship wide bio scan. All but four crew members were bunked down and there were three unrecognized bio readings coming from the briefing room. Considering the computers were running on 100% manual override she could only access data, she couldn't control anything from outside the bridge. Which meant that was her destination. She needed two things; and explanation of what was happening and an activation of 'final-protocol'.

She slipped back into the corridor and towards the bridge. When she arrived she found the doors open which was a giant red flag to proceed with caution. "Whatever Irons thinks he is doing, isn't going as well as he'd hoped" she thought as she stole into the bridge. "Fool doesn't even have a guard posted. Moron." She rolled her eyes. Because the doors to the briefing room had been manually closed they weren't sealed and she heard the conversation going on within.

"This is dangerous Irons! We were tailing you just fine and whatever you have to say could have come over the encrypted wave." said a tallish scraggly looking man with cold eyes and curly graying hair.

"Cool it Toombs!" said Irons harshly. "Just listen! These came today for our little diplomat." He handed the bounty slips to Toombs. "Your source was right. The council is after Riddick and apparently this boy Jack is the key. Rumor has it that Riddick would die before anything happened to this kid."

"And you ting your little lady can find this Jack?" Toombs laughed. "Need I remind you that the council doesn't send diplomats to do Merc-work? Pretty little things like the one dozing down the hall don't get their hands dirty. They are born with silver spoons on lush forest moons and take over when mommy and daddy want to relax with a view."

"This one is different" he said.

"Aren't they all, Irons?" he smirked. "What did the Vixen snub you?"

"That isn't the point Toombs!" Irons argued. "She is the key. You want Riddick you need Jack. You want Jack you need Sherah."

"Fine, what's the plan?" Toombs asked.

"Set upon by marauders. A diplomat goes missing." He said. "I signal authorities after you are long gone."

"And then what do I do with her?" He asked the obvious question. Kyra was curious too.

"Break her. Find out what she knows and then it doesn't matter." He sneered. "Like you said she is a pretty little thing."

"Now that is a plan I can get behind!" He said suggestively.

That was as much as Kyra needed to hear. She activated the 'final-protocol' and made her way quickly down the corridor, stopping off at her room to grab her case before heading to the aft hanger bay. In it was docked her little life boat. A Waverunner specifically designed for deep space escape. It was quick, agile, and had extreme stamina. She figured it was Irons' security deposit, but it was hers now. 'Final-Protocols' gave her three minutes to get to the hanger and four to cast off, before putting the ship on lockdown. Lockdown provided her two hours to move away from the Gestrin. She cast off just as her data-pad signaled lockdown. At this point she dialed into the briefing room viewing screen. She had to have one last conversation with the lovely Captain Irons.

Irons and Toombs were sharing a premature celebratory drink when the view screen on the desk behind him went static. Then image of the last person in the world he expected flashed on to the screen. Before anything else registered he found himself speaking. "Councilor Andres! What can I do for you this evening?"

"My dear Captain, you can do nothing for you. I am the only one who, at the moment, can offer anything." She said smiling. "Now I only have a few things to say. Did I or did I not just tell you not to overestimate yourself. Do you remember what I said?" When he didn't answer she continued. "I said, and I quote 'Do not overestimate your own strength Irons. For there will come a day that the consequences for your actions will be too great for you to handle.' I thought your memory would have been better than that, especially for a deep cover criminal such as yourself."

"I have no idea what you are talking about Councilor. Would you care to join us in the briefing room? I have just opened a lovely bottle of some exotic scotch and you are welcome to join." Irons offered doing everything to retain his calm. He only needed to get her in the same room as Toombs and his problems would be over.

"Irons I am struggling with my disappointment at the moment. I had deemed you to be a knight or a rook in this game. But never a pawn." She said shaking her head. "Obviously it doesn't matter now. I'm too far ahead of you for you to catch up any time soon. I'm actually calling for a reason, as much as I love the banter and when you feign innocence, I am short on time. I was simply calling to say goodbye. And I will no longer be requiring your services. You have been both indispensible and explicitly enlightening."

"What do you mean calling to say goodbye!" He said with more panic than authority. "We are deep into survey space. Where do you plan to run too? And how do you plan on getting there?"

"Oh wouldn't you love to know where I was going?" She said playfully. "And I plan on getting to my unnamed destination on my little Waverunner. The one in the sealed bay in the aft hold. Well at least that's where it used to be. Currently I have taken this little skiff and sent your computers spiraling into one of the longest lockdowns of your life."

"There is no way you can do that. It's impossible to bypass my team." He shouted rising from his chair. He signaled two of his officers to go check on her cabin and the aft bay. He tapped some controls on his data pad to do a comprehensive sweep for her bio readings. As they showed she was still in her room he smiled. "Councilor it was a very well delivered bluff, but it seems you are finally out of winning hands and now it's my turn to win."

"Yes I suppose you are right captain. It's impossible to override a bio scan." She seemed to be giving up the game. At least until she said, "Oh wait. It isn't. Irons I rewrote all your security protocols, how hard do you think it was to override a little bio scan. I did that weeks ago. Now may I speak with Toombs, please?"

"Of course you can pretty lady. I will find you, you know that right?" Toombs moved into the screen, smiling thru his greasy stubble.

"Of this I have absolutely no doubt. However I am very sure that when you do you will be too late." She stated this as though she somehow knew the future and what the road would look like getting there. "What happens when I tell Riddick that you tried to kill Jack? And me? And that you have ties to the people who killed his only friend? I'm no fortune teller Toombs but I'd say your future isn't very bright."

"There is no way you find Riddick before me. You have to find Jack first and that isn't something a little councilor can do. You aren't a hunter love. Leave the dirty work to the big boys." He leered at her.

"You mistake who I am." She said. "I am High Council security. I have no name and no family. I have been bred to be good at two things. Killing and Surviving. I have never failed a task. And I have taken on more formidable adversaries than the likes of you. You do not scare me. Now I really must be going boys. I have to give a killer a ride."

The screen when blank. Irons hung his head; he was so tired of all the struggle and stress. Toombs paced up and down the room waiting anxiously for the ship to come out of lockdown. Finally he stopped and looked over at his partner saying, "I will find her, long before she even notices she will lead me straight to him. And I will get revenge on Riddick and the kid once and for all."


	5. and Fade

There Will Always Be Darkness

Chapter 5

…and Fade

_Note to Readers__: I am pulling some storyline facts from Dark Fury and disregarding others entirely. In my head Toombs is the only survivor of the Kublai Khan (aside from all the ones in cryo) and the only one who knew Riddick was alive. And Riddick left because a) he didn't want to influence Jack and b) because Jack would never be safe with him around. Poetic License. My concern is the time frame and I am going to take a moment to tell you that I don't like Kyra being so young in Chronicles. Canon dictates that she was 12 in Pitch Black and 17 in Chronicles. Personally it didn't feel right. Here Kyra is 20 and Riddick is 33 and they have been separated for 7yrs. I feel as though it is more feasible. Let me know what you think about that and any directions you would like to see the story go. I'm not saying my imagination is dead but I have lost a lot of my creative motivation do to one too many family deaths this year so any push is welcome. But be warned I prefer my characters to experience great pain before any joy. Makes the joy sweeter. Yours Truly,__**Kit**_

_This chapter is short and not sweet._

* * *

Yes, she was the best at her job. Never one to get emotionally involved or compromised. She had learned to turn it all off. To become almost mechanic. To turn off all human reaction. Aside from her moment of panic in the dark, she had not felt anything more than strategically calculated instincts since washing Imam's blood off her dress. When she took a job, she became a new person each time. She would laugh and love and cry as that person, but she felt nothing. They were not her. Nothing about them resonated from within her. Only pieces of her had actually survived the three years she had spent searching the skies for the one she owed her life to. And now, trapped alone, in the never-ending emptiness of deep space, she knew that those last few pieces were dying too. But now she let herself react, to all of it, for the first time.

Kyra took a deep breath… and held it. Her eyes filled with 7yrs worth of angry unshed tears. As she opened her mouth let out the breath she was holding, she thought better of it. Instead she screamed. And the scream turned into a cry. And the cry turned into a sob. The one advantage to being alone in space was there was no one to eavesdrop, no one to see her lose it. And boy did she lose it. The worst part of it was that she had no idea why she was reacting like this. But as she let her tears flow, her heart feel and her mind wander she discovered the reason.

TOOMBS. That voice. That name. It had made her skin crawl, hearing it while she was on the bridge. But ,at the time, she had had more important things to do, the mechanical instinct driving her too escape had pushed everything unnecessary from her mind. Fear and panic were simply emotions she didn't have the luxury of enjoying, and they were far from necessary. But now the memory of his voice grated over her, raking its tendrils of malice across her heart, opening wounds that never healed. This man was the reason HE wasn't free. This man had never let them be free of everything that came before. It was the man from the _Kublai Khan_. He had been the only one that knew HE survived Hades.

It was his fault she killed Chillingsworth.

It was his fault HE left her.

His fault Imam was dead.

His fault she was so alone.

Rage was not the appropriate title for the emotion she was feeling. It wasn't deep enough or cold enough to explain what she was feeling at this moment. Her body burned with an icy all-encompassing fire that refused to be contained. The only problem was that there was nowhere for it to go. She was stuck, alone, on an island amongst the stars for two weeks. So she channeled it into a strategy to find him. Once she found him, maybe then she could finally be free of him, once and for all.

* * *

Five days. Only five days left till she got to UV-6. She had been searching for over two months. And she was running out of places to look and time before she actually reached Tangier 3. She had contacted Taya again at the last planet she had refueled at. No news on any front. The council had lost track of not only Toombs, which was understandable, but they had also lost the Gestrin. Completely lost it. Not even a trace of it. Nothing Taya said to her made her feel any better; on the contrary it actually made her angrier. For the first time in over 3 years Kyra felt like she was failing. But she was trying her best not to get emotional, trying not to despair. She had always known that he would never make this easy for her.

About a month ago she had upgraded from the Waverunner to the beautiful little yacht she had now. It was small enough not to be noticed, and large enough to actually be comfortable. Though many of the Council members who knew of her actual job description usually considered her no better than a common Merc, she was in fact a high-ranking Council member. And to the dismay of many of the older council members, it was required that they treat her as such. This made her resources almost limitless. A luxury she had become used to. And because she was always 'away on business', she had connections and aliases all over the quadrant. So when she got to Azrael Port on Oriona2, she made a bee line for the shipyard where Kevin Williamson head quartered his, less than reputable organization. The man knew her as Madame Morgan, and he owed her a favor or two. So when she had offered to trade him a Waverunner and a favor for a Ketch, he more than happily complied. The yacht was named wanderer. How poetic she had thought.

* * *

Kyra reached for the bag on the floor by her feet. She opened it and extracted the small recorder she brought with her everywhere since she got off Hades. It was her way of coping. Her way of getting the few errant emotions out of her head so she didn't have to deal with them. Like she could speak them and lock them into the recorder and they were no longer inside her. It's what she was doing now.

She sat back in the chair flexing and relaxing all her muscles in turn. She leaned back and let out a weak sigh. "I broke down. Again. I'm pretty sure for a moment there I lost my mind. I lost control. And I hurt." She whispered. "And I shouldn't care, because this is just another job. I am stronger than this. I am stronger than my father ever thought I could be. I escaped the husband he forced on me and gilded cage he had chosen. Only to find myself caged in my own existence. Maybe I was always meant to be in a cage. Never meant to be free. Always trapped, in a metal box, looking for someone who doesn't want to be found." She couldn't decide who she was trying to find. Him? Herself? Maybe both? She stopped and just breathed for a moment. Trying to find some rational reason for the onslaught of emotions she had been feeling for the last week. The only reason she gave herself was that she really didn't want to find him. She didn't want to see him ever again. But she found him on her mind constantly. And now she wasn't sleeping very well either. In the end she would simply chalk it up to the fact that this was the longest stint where she had been so isolated. But then again, the isolation brought on by her job never bothered her before. In fact, it was usually something of a blessing. She really wasn't great at being around people. Even when she was acting she sometimes just needed to be alone.

The alone she was feeling now wasn't the same kind of alone. This alone was dead. There was no air in it. It was suffocating. And she was beginning to feel as though the man she searched for was gone. And that she was actually completely alone now. Forever. And it terrified her.

"I don't want to be alone." She whispered to the stars. And, for the first time since she had been back, she found herself willingly saying his name. "Riddick don't leave me alone!"

* * *

The echo of what never was,  
The shadow of what isn't there,  
The love of your faintest dream,  
The voice you long to hear.


	6. Blinded by Shadow

There will always be darkness

Blinded by Shadow

There was nothing to do but wait. It seemed as though UV-6 was having some sort of power issue. Probably due to the massive storms they were having in the northern quadrants. Being in orbit around the planet was like circling the base of the tree where you have treed your prey. She was the hunter now, and he was the prey. He was the one who didn't know she was coming, the one who didn't see this far into the dark.

It made her very happy to know that she had him cornered and he didn't even know it. She was about to take from him everything he had, just like he had done to her. She was about to take him and turn him over to authorities that had hunted him for so long. Part of her felt a little guilty, but a part of her was elated that she was finally pulling one over on him. She was going to drop him off and never look back, just like he did. She knew he wouldn't care as much as she had when he walked away, but where she was leaving him was somewhere he didn't want to be, so he had to care, least a little. She was becoming more and more vindictive the longer she had to stay in orbit.

Two days. Two days of waiting in orbit, and the wait was killing her. When she finally received word from flight control, she was about ready to go out of her mind. She was pretty sure she was going to walk a hole right through the deck, from the back of her ship to the front. She practically leapt into the command and began piloting her way to the docking station. As soon as she was docked, she made a mad dash for the door. The three seconds it took for the airlock to depressurized, made her realize just how much like a fool she was acting. She took a moment, smoothed the front of her dress, took a deep breath and composed herself. When she opened the door, a blast of cool fresh air brushed against her face, and she instantly felt refreshed.

She never realized how far the alias of Madame Morgan had spread until this moment. Three men in what seemed to be, in her mind, rather feminine robes were rushing forward to meet her. The one who got to her first reached out both his hands to grasp hers, and he pulled her in close and kissed both her cheeks. He was a fat man, one who enjoyed a high level of luxury with no thought to the detriment to his figure. His skin was pale and his hands were clammy, and his eyes were just too small for the rest of him. He had rather outlandish hair and makeup as well, which was something Kyra had never seen before. Even with the outlandish places she had been, she'd never seen a man wearing so much lipstick. She did her best to not show how revolted she was.

"Madame Morgan! I am Vladmir Matari, and I am the governor of Isanne." The fat man said with a slight bow. "May I introduce to you my brothers? Kale and Dmitri."

"Governor Matari, I am Madame Angeline Morgan." Kyra bowed slightly, as she tried to dignify herself into the character that was Madame Morgan. She turned to bow slightly Kale and Dmitri. "Gentlemen, it is such a pleasure to meet you."

"Please Madame, the pleasure is all ours." The one she assumed was Kale extends his hand to take hers, and instead of pulling her close to kiss her he simply bowed and gently brushed his lips against the back of her hand.

Vladmir rudely brushed his brother aside, and began ushering her to have an awaiting hover car. He rattled on and on about what an honor it was for her to be in their small little city, and how humbled they were by her visit. When he turned to her and asked where her luggage was she almost didn't know how to answer. Because by luggage he didn't mean her trunks of clothes, he meant the men she usually had with her. The character of Madame Morgan was not one of the most reputable people in the quadrant. She didn't necessarily deal in slave trafficking but she didn't deal in beauty trafficking. It was difficult to explain but to put it less delicately, she always seemed to have two or three very beautiful, buff, sun-kissed men by her side, to do anything she wanted them to. Not that she ever happened do anything but her cover was definitely less reputable. But as Madame Morgan she was known to be able to any procure kind of beauty that you wanted. And when she showed up on your planet fun was sure to follow.

She had not expected this, and therefore she was ill-equipped to compensate for it. However this might work out in her favor, she had no way of getting too the more secluded areas of the planet, but if Madame Morgan wanted to see the beautiful ice caverns of the northwest quadrant no one would stop her. However they may wish to accompany her, a minor hiccup easily rectified. All she had to do was spend a day or two catering to the Matari Brothers wild imaginations of what she was capable of, and then she would simply say she needed to slip away for a day. It all seemed quite simple, and easy to execute. But things were about to go horribly wrong.

She forgot how much she missed taking a bath. It was one of the things you don't really remember while on a ship but considering the fact that she'd been on a ship for so long she should have notice how much she missed just being able to soak in hot water. Kyra was by no means a girly girl, however there are certain things every woman loves. Bubble baths are one of them. The Matari brothers had prepared for her, her own suite in the governor's mansion. It was at the center of the city upon a hill, and the views were breathtaking. When Vladmir had said that their city was small and humble he was lying. The city was huge. It almost seemed like a never ending, always fluctuating sea of silvers and blues. The snow seemed to fall everywhere but didn't accumulate and she wasn't quite sure how they accomplished that, but the effect was marvelous. It's like the sky was full of little bits of sparkling diamonds, and as the sparkling little flakes of diamonds fell the whole world beneath it turned into this beautiful shimmering masterpiece of human engineering. There were few cities that she had seen that compared to the beauty of this one. And the brothers expected her to experience all it had to offer. She had come up with an alibi for why she was there; she was searching for singular beauty. She didn't say exactly what kind of beauty was, whether it was a piece of art or boy or girl or a horse, she them guessing but said that when she saw it she would know. So they were quite anxious to show her everything that they thought was beautiful. Since she had arrived in the evening her itinerary did not begin until the next morning, so she took the opportunity to enjoy being on the land again.

As she wrapped herself in a robe and exited the giant bathroom, she was startled to see someone in the living room. She recognized him immediately is the youngest of the brothers, Dmitri. He was tall, lean, and handsome. His dark brown hair fell in waves to about his shoulders. At first glance he seemed completely unassuming, yet there was an element to him that seemed almost menacing, but it was just the beneath the surface. Kyra wasn't quite sure if it was his eyes or the way she smiles, but there was definitely something about him she could not trust. He was definitely one of those men who commanded a room as soon as he walked into it. He was probably someone who always got his way considering how handsome he was. And at this moment he seemed to want something from Kyra, and she was sure she wasn't going to like it.

"Madame Morgan," he said in a deep clear voice as he reached for her hand. "There are so many things a man, such as myself, would like to know about the things you do. However, seems inappropriate to ask."

"Mister Matari, I'm sure there is nothing you could ask that I would be ashamed to answer." She replied as she coyly looked up into his bright blue eyes, trying her best to hide her disgust behind what she hoped came off as shyness.

Apparently the way she looked at him had the desired affect and he slowly raised her hand to his lips. Yes she was sure she wasn't going to like this.

Words fall from sweetest lips

And to her heart the poison drips.

Words weave the shadows

Into things only she can fear.

She is blinded by shadow.


End file.
